The Sindh police on Thursday lost three more officers who had contracted the novel coronavirus infection. The tally of the law enforcers who have perished due to COVID-19 has reached 16.
The latest victims of the viral disease were identified as Superintendent of Police (SP) Shakeel Ahmed, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Ahmed Nawaz and Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Abdul Rahimuddin. SP Shakeel Ahmed, 59, son of Muhammad Shafi, was performing his duties as the complaint cell incharge in District Malir. He had joined the police force in November 1984.
Earlier, he had been posted at the Rapid Response Force DSP, the Kalakot (Lyari) DSP and the Law & Order Cell DSP / shift incharge at the Sindh Chief Minister Secretariat. He was diagnosed with COVID-19 on June 17. He is survived by a wife and four children. DSP Ahmed Nawaz was on security duty in Lahore. He was the son of Pak Colony SHO Chaudhry Iqbal, who had embraced martyrdom in 1986. The DSP is survived by a wife and a son.
He had joined the Sindh police in 1986 as an ASI. He was posted at the Bilawal House in Lahore under the Special Security Unit of the Sindh police. He was diagnosed with COVID-19 on June 7.
ASI Abdul Rahimuddin, son of Azizuddin, had been stationed at the KESC (Karachi Electric Supply Company; now K-Electric) police station in the South Zone of the Karachi Range. He was admitted at the Sindh Institute of Urology & Transplantation.
Sindh police chief Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar expressed his sympathies with the bereaved families of the police officers and paid tributes to their services. He also prayed for eternal peace for the souls of the departed and patience for the bereaved families. According to the spokesperson for the Sindh police, with 90 new cases reported in the past 24 hours, 1,345 officials of the police force have so far been infected with the virus.
He said that of the total 16 officials who lost their battle against COVID-19, 14 belonged to the Karachi Range alone, while the other two were from the Hyderabad Range.
The spokesperson said that currently 960 officials of the Sindh police are under treatment, while 370 have returned to their homes after recovering from the disease.